


engage the enemy

by CallofTheCurlew



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Cute, Fluff, M/M, gamingmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-01 11:23:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16283684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallofTheCurlew/pseuds/CallofTheCurlew
Summary: Phil feels the judgement in his tired eyes, tired of making 25 games in a row and constantly putting on this face again so soon after they’ve come off tour. Dan doesn’t want to play it, Phil knows, but he’s not backing down this time. It’s far too important.





	engage the enemy

“It’s a game made through that RPG-maker thing again.” 

“Sounds like shit, to be honest. Is it worth filming- has it got, like, a good, short story? I don't want to do some forty hour Let's Play again. They're hard.”

Phil purses his lips, nodding, “It’s worth it. I promise.”

Dan’s eyebrows rise and he stares at Phil for a long moment. Phil feels the judgement in his tired eyes, tired of making 25 games in a row and constantly putting on this face again so soon after they’ve come off tour. Dan doesn’t want to play it, Phil knows, but he’s not backing down this time. It’s far too important. 

It’s the last game of Gamingmas. It’s the last day for filming - December 24th. They’ve left it a bit late this year, but it’s been hard to find games that suit the genre that aren’t too long but are still challenging and interesting enough to film. It’s a tricky balance, but they do pretty well most of the time.

Phil insisted that this had to be the last game, and Dan didn’t question it until now. 

“Twenty four games and you want to end on an RPG-maker?” he rolls his eyes, and he actually seems a little put out, “Fine, fine…” 

Phil’s gut twists with anxiety, and maybe this _is_ a bad idea. Maybe it’s not worth the look on Dan’s face right now. 

But Dan boots it up, and that’s it. There’s no backing out now. Phil reaches to start the recording, and they settle into the intro. Dan, of course, makes a joke about this being the last game of the year, and Phil just smiles. 

He hopes his anxiety doesn’t translate onto the camera. 

“Leeevvveeelll one!” Phil drawls, and suddenly they’re into it. 

It’s fairly standard and basic, as most 2D platformers of the same calibre are. 

It starts with a young man with brown hair, “Ooh, a generic me,” Dan jokes.

The storyline is easy enough - the character is on a journey to find something that he feels has been calling to him since he was a child. The screens are quick and there aren’t that many secrets, so they go through fairly quickly.  Phil is relieved when Dan seems to actually be enjoying it.  He swears, laughing when he makes stupid mistakes but isn’t hesitant when he restarts - it’s no longer a burden to play. It makes Phil feel a little better, but he’s still quaking. His own commentary is half-hearted and he can’t seem to think of anything to say - just gentle encouragement and sympathy with each failed puzzle or death.

Finally, Dan reaches the end of the first part and he sits back from the computer, laughing, “Alright, alright. That’s-”

“That’s part one. Now let’s keep going.” 

Dan shoots a glance at Phil, surprised. They’ve been filming for forty minutes, and it’s usually here that they would just come back another day to finish off the game later. Or not at all, depending on reception.

“Keep going? Alright…” he glances at the camera, “Didn’t know this was gonna be a long one,” he grins, “Guess who is gonna be roped into doing the editing? This guy.” 

Phil just laughs, “Come on, next screen.” 

Phil knows that Dan thinks he’s being weird, but Phil can’t back out now. If he doesn’t, he never will. His heart quakes as Dan presses the button for the next area.

The main character enters on a forest, thick and dense and the music is soft and mysterious, “Not the sleeping forest…” Dan murmurs, and Phil can’t help but laugh at the Final Fantasy reference.

"Quick, get the Kujata materia..." Phil jokes. It's nothing that ninety percent of their fans will understand, but he appreciates the ten percent that will. Besides, it makes Dan laugh and that's all he ever wants. 

Three letters flash up on the screen as he walks forward. 

_ Dan. _

“What?” Dan glances at Phil, eyes narrowing, “Not another Sonic.exe, come on,” he whines, “This isn’t Spooky Week.” 

Phil acts bewildered, “What? I didn’t plan this! Just keep going!” 

Dan whines again and moves forward more tentatively, looking out for anything that might result in a jumpscare. 

_ You’re getting closer to the end. _

“No shit, game…” Dan murmurs, still on edge. He keeps moving, the words appearing and disappearing as he goes.

_ Do you know what lies at the end? Decisions. _

“Deep.” 

Phil laughs, suddenly self-conscious about the wording. His heart is trembling. He doesn’t want to do this anymore. It would be so easy to just pull the plug on the computer and change everything. Corrupt the game file, so they could never play again.

But he wants this. He does. It’s just… 

He’s terrified at the same time. 

_ Lucky you don’t have to go through the end alone.  _

“Player two, unlocked…” Dan reads the words on the screen, glancing at Phil in surprise, “Alright, I guess,” he laughs, “This is so weird.” 

Anxiety flares in Phil’s gut again and he lets out a shaky breath, putting his fingers on the controls. It’s WASD, but he’ll do it for Dan. 

_ Friend or foe? FIGHT! _

The battle music starts and Dan yelps as they’re suddenly battling each other, “Oh my god, this is so weird. I don’t want to  _ fight  _ you…” he cries, hitting the attack buttons anyway. 

Phil controls his little generic, black-haired character, attacking back. Dan hasn’t noticed that their HP isn’t dropping, but he’s launching combos and throwing everything he has at Phil’s character. 

_ Maybe he has something you need? _

A new option appears on the menu,  _ Act. _

_ “ _ Oh, like Undertale, okay,” Dan says, clicking the menu and selecting “Ask” in the second menu. 

_ You ask if he has something - he does.  _

_ Weapon: Ultima Buster _

“Ooh, sweet. That helps,” he grins, “Why did we fight though? Why didn’t we just talk first?”

“Well,” Phil says quietly, because he wrote the script, of course, “Maybe sometimes people just do that. They fight before they figure out what the other person wants or needs.” 

“Whoa. That  _ is _ really deep...” he laughs.

_ He asks to join the party. Accept? Y/N. _

“I’ll never refuse a new party member,” Dan pauses, “Unless it’s Yuffie, of course. That bitch can g-t-f-o.” 

Phil laughs and shakes his head, “Okay, okay, lead the way,” 

Dan nods, and they traverse a couple more screens, through the forest and into a dungeon. Phil dies three times before they reach the next area, but luckily they have unlimited lives.

“This is actually pretty fun,” Dan admits as more words appear. 

_ Life is a series of levels. Sometimes you can’t pass without a little help. _

“Who wrote the script for this?” Dan asks, and Phil cringes,  “And what would have happened if I had said no to the party member? I- Oh, okay, duh, this is a co-op bit. Pull that lever and it’ll create a path for us to move that boulder.” 

Phil doesn’t help him work it out, but does as he’s told, “Okay, push.”

The boulder rolls down the pathway which unlocks a box that rises from the ground. Phil’s heart is in his throat as Dan just stares for a moment. An identical box sits in Phil's pocket, heavy against his thigh. His mouth is dry. 

“Box, box, box, box,” Dan sings, and his little character hops down the path towards it.

The Final Fantasy victory music sounds and Dan lets out a laugh, “What the hell? Someone crossed mediums.”

Phil’s quiet, eyes wide as he watches the screen. 

_ Victory!  _

The box opens and the ring from inside fills the entire screen. It’s got a thick black band, and looks more like some weird hoop through the pixels on the game. 

“This is-”

Dan’s cut off by more words on the screen. 

_ Some games aren’t meant to be played alone.  _

_ Will you marry me, Dan?  _

Dan lets out a soft, bewildered laugh and his head turns, quizzical, but Phil can’t look at him. He struggles to get the box out of his pocket and he opens it, revealing an identical black band, shimmering slightly in the light of the monitor. Phil can feel that his mouth is pinched and he’s so tense, but he holds the box open to Dan like an offering. 

“Wha-” 

“Will you?”

Dan looks first at the game, then back at the ring. Phil can sees that he spares a thought for the camera for a quick second, before he’s just laughing. His cheeks are bright red, and he covers his whole face with his hand, almost hysterical.

The wait is horrific. 

Once Dan starts laughing, Phil can feel his heart sinking but he doesn’t know what this reaction is about. Maybe Dan’s just overwhelmed. It is a pretty weird situation to be faced with. 

Dan’s shoulders are still shaking, but he’s silent now, and Phil regrets every decision he’s ever made. They aren’t public people, or overly romantic, so he had thought this was the perfect option - secluded, just for them, in the safety of their home. He had been working on the idea for weeks, had finally found someone to make it for him and now- 

Dan is just laughing. 

“Should I pack up my stuff and just leave the house tonight?” Phil finally teases, and Dan lifts his head.

His smile is wide, his cheeks and his chest flushed with warmth. Phil can’t see the spot on his cheek but he bet it burns brighter than his whole face. 

“You’re not going anywhere, dummy. I can’t believe you did this,” he exclaims, staring at the game which has now popped up with a Yes/No option, “Who even does this?” 

“Your boyfriend does this - the same boyfriend who just popped the biggest question of his life and is now anxiously waiting for an answer.”

Dan just laughs again, delighted and still a little bewildered. Phil isn’t worried anymore. He never was, if he's honest. He was more worried at  _how_ Dan would say accept. 

“Of course I’ll marry you, idiot,” he says fondly, and even though Phil wasn’t worried, it’s a relief that he’s finally said it. Dan reaches for the box, examining it.

“Wow,” he says softly, “You know I’m never going to wear this, right?”

Phil nods, “Duh. Could you imagine? But it’s just- nice to have…” 

“Maybe I could put it on a necklace or something. Or a keychain on my wallet…” 

“Eh. I just liked having a- a signifier. You know? Makes it a bit more real?” 

“Real…” Dan laughs softly, shaking his head, “Of all the ways I thought someone would propose to me, this wasn’t one of them…”

Phil grins at him fondly, before leaning in and cupping his face to kiss him gently. It’s soft and sweet, but the fact that a giant lens is still staring at them puts Phil off a little, and he pulls away.

“You have to do the game bit,” Phil says, giddy and suddenly overwhelmed by how many emotions he’d just expended.  _ Dan said yes.  _ Again, __ Phil didn’t really have any doubts. They’d committed to forever with more than just a ring a long time ago. 

Dan rolls his eyes, and his finger hovers over the ‘N’, before he laughs and hits the ’Y’, listening to the Final Fantasy theme over again. 

“Annnnd there’s a bonus-level-slash-alternate-ending, of course,” Phil said, “Mostly because I knew that- well, this would all have to be edited, and we’d need a way to end the video...”

“You want to keep filming?” Dan asks in wonder.

“Yeah, it’s a good game! It’s got a good story!” 

“You thought of everything, didn’t you?” Dan murmurs in wonder, shaking his head, “I can’t believe we just got engaged and you want to finish filming…” 

Phil beams, “Engagement: Challenge mode.”

“This is going to be the worst ending to a video ever.” Dan says happily, and he loads up the next level.

“Oh shit, wait,” Phil takes the ring off the table, putting it out of view of the camera. 

“That would’ve been the worst thing we could’ve ever done…” Dan laughs, waiting for a beat before launching into more game commentary. The next level is standard and ends with a boss fight that rounds out the story.

Dan’s still red, and more animated than he was at the beginning of the video. Phil wonders if it’s going to be weird on camera, but he doesn’t mind. He proposed, and Dan said yes. They have the footage forever, and for once, Phil had managed to keep it a secret. 

He glances over at Dan, on a rant about RPG-Maker games, and he knows that the compilation video-makers and gif-makers will go mental at the way he’s just  _ staring _ , but he can’t help it. Not today.

“Don’t you think?” 

Phil wasn’t listening but he nods as the game credits roll, “Yeah.” 

“Nice input there. That, folks, is the reason you always stop after the first level… If you film for too long, you end up being unable to even have conversations...” it’s not the best line in the world, but Phil doesn’t blame him. He can imagine there will be speculation over this video for years, about the weird jump in the game, about their expressions and their reactions. 

They shut off the camera once they’ve filmed the end screen and Dan finally turns off his camera voice, breathing deeply and reaching for the ring again, trying to look at it properly.

“I wish I could wear it.” he says wistfully, pausing and glancing at Phil, “Can you...put it on me?” 

Phil laughs and nods, pulling it out of the little box carefully and sliding it onto his finger. Against all odds, it fits. 

Dan stares at it, entranced, and when he gazes back to Phil, his eyes are watery. Phil’s heart tugs with fondness for him, leaning in and pressing another kiss to his lips. Engaged. _Fiancés._

“Twenty five days of gaming and you proposed at the end of it…the day before Christmas…” 

Phil shrugs, “I wanted to be able to tell people when we go home for Christmas.  _ And _ I also promised myself I’d do it this year.”

“So you left it until the last minute?” Dan laughs softly, “I have to admit, it’s a well executed plan….what would you have done if I had said no?”

“I wouldn’t have proposed if I thought you were gonna say no,” Phil says honestly, “But I didn’t want to have the embarrassment of some public engagement. At least this way, we can keep it a secret from the rest of the world a bit longer.”

Phil feels a little raw and exposed with the way Dan is just staring at him, but he offers him a shy little smile that prompts their next kiss. Sometimes it feels like they're just teenagers again, confused and shy and still learning each other. And other times, like now, it felt like replaying a game for the ninetieth time, even though they had already scored a Perfect Game the last five times they played it.

“Okay, okay. I’ve got the title for this video,” Dan says after a moment, his forehead still pressed against Phil’s. 

“Alright. What?” 

“Engage the enemy.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Reblog [this fic](https://callofthecurlew.tumblr.com/post/179010864980/engage-the-enemy) on Tumblr?  
> 


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